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Pilot summer program supports science teachers

Northern New Mexico kindergarten-through-eighth-grade science teachers spent a week exploring the concept of “matter,” a vital underpinning for many scientific disciplines including physics and chemistry. The twenty-six attendees, teacher leaders and instructional coaches, were selected for the pilot program from the region. The inaugural Science Leadership Institute was coordinated by the Lab’s Math and Science Academy.

The educators spent their mornings in small groups involved in hands-on science investigation and their afternoons discussing how to advance science literacy. Techniques on how to detect student scientific misunderstanding and corrective actions were also included in on the agenda. In addition, the teachers got to meet with two Lab scientists who made presentations, respectively, one on the origin of elements through star explosions and the other on how knowledge of the elements and their properties are being used to explore Mars.